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I (No ModeL) E. THOMAS. r (lawAxle Lub rioator. .No. 229,065. Pate nted jun 22,1880.

unmmliil l NPHERS, FHOTQ-UTHOGRA PMER, WASHINGTON. D c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD THOMAS, OF NEWARK, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO JAMES E. THOMAS, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-AXLE LUBRICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,065, dated June 22, 1880. Application filed April 19, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD THOMAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at New ark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Method of and Means for Lubricating Oar-Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to self-oiling means for car-wheels, especially wheels of miningcars; and the main object is to prevent friction and wear, both of axle and wheel, by excluding dust, dirt, and other substances from thejournal-bearing more effectually than has hitherto been effected.

Myimprovement consists in a double cap, the inner wall of which is non-perforated and covers the end of the journal to exclude dust, dirt, and other substancesfrom the journalbearing; secondly, in the combination, with a car-wheel formed with one or more horizontal oil chambers or passages and vertical passages leading from the same to the bore of the wheel, of a double cap, having a communicating chamber for supplyingoil to the same; thirdly, in a car-wheel with passages or. channels for supplying the lubricant to the journal-bearing,

provided with shoulders or offsets to receive 2. Fig. 2 is an end view of the wheel, show-.

ing the double cap removed. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the double cap.

In the accompanying drawings, A representsthe journal, B the washer, and O the pin, of an ordinary car-axle. The letter 1) represents the wheel intended for a mining'car, composed of two partsto wit, the wheel proper, D, and the double cap D.

In the manufacture of the wheel proper two or more screw-threaded bolts, with the unthreaded part enlarged or re-enforced, are suitably arranged or supported in the mold adjacent to the hub portion of the wheel. The wheel proper is also formed in its hub with'one or morehorizontal oil chambers or passages, E, from which leads the vertical oilchannel I), as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. This vertical oil-channel b, communicating with the oil-chamber above, feeds or supplies the journal-bearing with the lubricant. The wheel is also preferably formed with an annular flange, c, and annular shoulder cl, the latter being formed on the hub of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 1, the object of which will be hereinafter more fully described. The inner face of the wheel immediately surrounding the bore is enlarged at e to receive snugly the inner washer, f, on the axle.

The letter D represents a dome-shaped cap, forming an oil-reservoir, which I denominate the double cap. This dome-shaped cap is formed with two walls, 1 and 2, similarly curved, or nearly so, and connected together by the studs or lugs h at their outer or middle portions, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) forming an annular chamber or space between the walls. The inner wall of this double cap forms a chamber or recess sufficiently large to pass over the washer and fastening-key of thejournal, and at the same time prevents the fastening-key from flying out or becoming detached from the journal, and the apex or the central portion of the outer wall is provided with an opening, 6, constitutingthe oil-feed. The outer wall of this double cap is provided with two or more perforatedlugs, is, adapted to pass over the screw-threaded bolts of the wheel proper.

It will be observedv by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, which shows the parts united,

that the inner wall of the double cap rests uponthe shoulders at of the wheel, covering the end of the journal. The inner surface of the outer wall of the double cap rests upon the flange 0 of the wheel, establishing the oil communication, and the perforated lugs of the double cap are passed over the bolts of the wheel for attachment, with suitable packing interposed between the contact-surfaces of the wheel and the double cap to make oil-tight joints. The cap is secured to the wheel by means of the nuts m.

Operation The oil is poured or passed through the opening't in the outer wall, and, owing to the inclined surfaces extending inwardly, it is passed to the space between the walls which constitutes the oil-reservoir. From this reservoir, as the wheel revolves, the oil is fed over and around the curved surfaces of the dome-walls into the horizontal chambers of the wheel, and from thence it passes downwardly, by gravity, through the vertical channels to the journal, thereby supplying the oil automatically to the journal-bearing in sufficient quantities for perfect lubrication. By the location of the oil-hole tin the center of the dome, and from its shape, no oil will be able to run out of the reservoir.

It will be seen that by the shape (dome) of the outer wall of the double cap it will not collect dust, dirt, or other substances and carry the same to the oil-reservoir, but, on the contrary, owing to the curved surfaces, it will cast it off. In case any dust or dirt should enter or work through the oil-aperture of the outer wall, it would be impossible to reach the end of the axle, on account of the inner wall formin g a protecting-hood for the end of the axle.

Thus by the foregoing construction of a double cap I am enabled to cover the wearing parts of the journal and free the same from the exposure to dust, dirt, or other foreign substances.

Also, it will be noticed that my improvements are especially adapted to mining-car wheels in which the ordinary journals, washers, and pins are employed.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The detachable double-wall cap, formed with an annular chamber, serving the purpose 5 of an oil-reservoir, and an interior chamber or space adapted to fit over the end of the journal, washer, and fastening-key of a car'wheel, to exclude dust, &c., from the end of the journal, substantially as shown and described. e

2. The car-wheel formed with thehorizontal oil-chambers and the vertical oil passages leading from the same to the bore of the wheel, and constructed with the flanges and shoulders, affording a support to a double-wall cap, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an ordinary caraxle and a car-wheel having one or more horizontal oil chambers or passages, of a doublewall cap having an oil-reservoir for supplying oil to the horizontal passages of the wheel, substantially as described.

4. The combination of an ordinary car-axle journal, a car-wheel having one or more horizontal oil chambers or passages, with vertical passages leading therefrom to the bore of the wheel, and a double-wall cap having an inner chamber covering the end of the journal, its washer, and fastening-key, and an oil-reservoir for supplying lubricant to the passages of the wheel, substantially as described.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of the wheel proper, having horizontal oil chambers or passages, with vertical communicating oil-passages and supporting-flanges and shoulders, an ordinary journal, and the double-wall dome fitting over the flanges and shoulders of the wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWD. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

CHAS. E. WrsE, W. M. PRAISE. 

